Armenia signs Customs Union roadmap, Kyrgyzstan needs more talks

Presidents Vladimir Putin (center) of Russia , Alexander Lukashenko (left) of Belarus and Nursultan Nazarbayev (right) of Kazakhstan making a statement for the press after the end of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in the Kremlin on December 24, 2013. (RIA Novosti / Aleksey Nikolskyi)

Armenia is on course to join the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan by January 2015, after signing a "roadmap" in Moscow. Despite declaring its interest only three months ago, it may join earlier than Kyrgyzstan, which applied in 2011.

The news was announced after an official meeting between the
heads of state of the three original members and two potential
ones. The meeting also included Ukraine, which has observer
status. Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov was present at
the gathering.

“We welcome the interest in closer co-operation from the
non-member states. We have approved the roadmap that will allow
Armenia to join the union and the common economic area, and a
similar document for Kyrgyzstan is virtually ready,” Russian
President Vladimir Putin told reporters.

The Customs Union, which seeks to gather all ex-Soviet nations to
form a free trade zone to rival the EU, is the Russian leader’s
project.

Armenia’s bilateral trade with Russia, its biggest foreign
partner, reached US$1.2 billion in 2012 – a negligible amount for
Moscow. Double digit growth has taken place, however, as the
Caucasian country of three million people continues to recover
from the effects of a severe economic crisis.

Armenia had long negotiated a potential Association Agreement
with the EU, similar to the one that has been causing upheaval in
Ukraine, but reversed
course towards Russia in September.

Among the potential obstacles to effective membership for Yerevan
are the lack of shared borders with other member states and the
unresolved status of the Nagorno Karabakh region, which is
contested with Azerbaijan. A special provision has been included
in the roadmap, which will define the status of the region and
whether it constitutes part of the Customs Union.

Kyrgyzstan’s signing of a similar roadmap will be postponed at
least until the next session of the union in March, following
critical public comments made by the country’s president last
week.

Almazbek Atambaev told media in Bishkek that the roadmap had been
“drafted without Kyrgyzstan's involvement” and risked
subjecting the country to "social problems and
instability."

Belarus and Kazakhstan are also not entirely agreed on the nature
of the partnership between the member states, with Belarusian
leader Aleksandr Lukashenko calling for wider diplomatic and
political integration between the countries during Tuesday’s
meeting, and Kazakh leader Narsultan Nazarbaev retorting that the
Customs Union “must not become politicized.”

President Putin nonetheless assured that the union is still on
course to come into power on the long-declared date of January 1,
2015, with details finalized by May 2014.

“Next we must document the economic obligations of the member
states to ensure that they are doing everything to ensure the
free economic movement of goods,” said the Russian leader.

“Eventually we are hoping that the amount of exceptions that
restrict free trade will be reduced to zero,” he added.